California NAACP says 'Star-Spangled Banner' needs to be replaced

California NAACP says 'Star-Spangled Banner' needs to be replaced

Theresa Hayes
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09 November, 2017, 19:03

California NAACP Vice President Alice Huffman said Congress should find a replacement that doesn't "disenfranchise part of the American population", according to the Sacramento Bee. "In order to move forward, we got to look back, but we also got to go, 'OK, where do we want to go from here, and I feel that the discussion is up for debate for sure, a civil debate if we can have that", said Burbank resident Nick Murphy.

A second resolution was passed in support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a leader of last season's protests during the national anthem.

The chapter reportedly circulated two resolutions to lawmakers in the Golden State that said the song is "one of the most racist, pro-slavery, anti-Black songs in the American lexicon". "It's anti-black people".

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

The verse is thought to refer to African-American slaves who fought for the British during the War of 1812 in hopes of winning their freedom.

The issue has received more attention in the light of the National Football League protests as well as efforts to take down statues celebrating USA historical figures who were slave owners. Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner", was a slave owner and fierce opponent of abolition who may have sparked the first race riot in Washington, D.C.

The California NAACP has not yet had any legislative sponsors for its resolutions, but one legislator is already speaking out against the proposal to ban the anthem.

Huffman says the National Anthem should be replaced by a song that supports the country's values. "It shouldn't have been there, we didn't have it 'til 1931", Ms. Huffman said.